Senate standing committee asks KP govt to ensure security to Saima, Musa

Islamabad

The Senate Standing Committee on Human Rights has asked the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government to ensure the security of Saima and Musa, the main characters of Ambreen’s murder case who was burnt to death for helping them escape their village to marry according to their will.

The Senate Standing Committee on Human Rights met on Tuesday to get a briefing on arrest of the murderers of a teenager Ambreen in Abbottabad who was burnt to death in a vehicle on the verdict of a Jirga. Senator Muhammad Muhsin Khan Leghari chaired the meeting which was attended by Senator Sitara Ayaz, Senator Nisar Muhammad, Senator Farhatullah Babur, Senator Samina Abid and Senator Mufti Abdul Sattar.

The committee was told that Saima, a young girl of local influential family, eloped with Musa, a resident of nearby village on April 23, 2016. On April 28, the family of Saima arranged a meeting of 15 local people which decided to burn the vehicle used for elopement of Saima and also burn the girl Ambreen, a friend of Saima, who allegedly helped Saima in escaping the place.

Soon after the conclusion of the meeting, Ambreen was taken to a deserted place where she was tied, sedated through medicine and strangulated to death. Her corpse was thrown in a Suzuki van in the presence of Suzuki owner which was put ablaze by sprinkling kerosene oil.

While briefing the committee, DPO Abottabad Khurram Rasheed informed the Senators that during investigation, police arrested 15 accused including Ambreen’s mother who was later released as she was found innocent whereas 14 accused are on Police remand and one accused named Wajid alias Mola is still missing. He said that there is information that Saima and Musa a still alive and efforts are on to detect their whereabouts.

The committee members also instructed the law enforcement agencies to provide protection to Ambreen’s mother as she has reportedly been receiving threats since the killing of her daughter.

Overall, the committee members appreciated the timely and prompt response of KPK police. “We appreciate the way this case has been handled by the police,” said Chairman Committee Senator Muhammad Muhsin Khan Leghari.

The committee was also briefed by the representative of Armed forces Major General Abid Nazir on the status of Okara Military farms. It was shared that the issue has been resolved with the help of Parliamentarians and local administration and the case from Supreme Court has been withdrawn.

The representative said that the farms operate with the 50-50 per cent crops sharing between the administrators and the tenants in which the inputs like seeds and fertilizers are provided by the Army. The representative shared there are only 11 army officers whereas around 17,000 tenants and wards of lessees that operate the farms. He said that the contract is renewed every year and no one will be or has been expelled from the farms. He said that no FIR has been registered by the armed forces against the local community. “FIRs were registered by the locals against each other,” he said.

The committee members agreed that the demand of giving possession to the local community is not an appropriate option. Senator Farhatullah Babur proposed the committee to call the representatives of other side for hearing as well so that their issues can be addressed.

The committee was also briefed about the status of National Commission on Human Rights (NCHR). Member NHR Chaudhry Shafiq informed the committee that the summery for salary packages is with the Prime Minister for final approval. “There are chances that funds provided for salaries will lapse if the decision in not taken in time,” he said.